The present invention relates to radar, more particularly to apparatuses and methods that employ one or more radar receiver channels for effecting monostatic or bistatic radar.
Both single-channel and multi-channel radar systems have been used effectively for a variety of applications. The term “radar” is acronymous for “radio detection and ranging.” A single-channel radar system describes a single conveyance path of radio signals from a radar receiver element to a radar data storage device. Many applications require plural (e.g., multiple) radar receiver elements; typically, the radar receiver elements are selectively arranged as a “radar array.” Radar arrays have traditionally been designed from the start with multiple receiver channels in parallel, wherein each receiver channel describes a separate conveyance path of radio signals from a radar receiver element to a radar data storage device. These multi-channel radar systems are usually large and expensive due to the duplication of the receiver components (e.g., the signal conditioners and amplifiers that are connected to a receiver horn antenna). Until the present, the modification of a single channel radar system into a radar array system has been problematical and has not been favored practice.